Invest in experiences, not things

Making good tasting water and stopping rainwater leaks

November 13, 2012by Nate |

Recently my boat projects have been water related. Keeping the water outside the boat outside, and making the water inside taste good. In September, Sullivan’s Great Grandparents came to visit. After retiring from the Army, Great Grandpa Ted worked with water filtration systems. He gave us a complete water filtration system as a boat warming present. The system includes a pre-filter to remove particulates from the tank water, WaterMarque 100US Under the Sink Water Filter.

The WaterMarque is designed to filter 15,000 gallons of water before needing to be replaced. Astreaea has 90 gallons of water onboard, so we should be able to fill the tanks at least 166 times before needing a new filter. We fill the tanks once a week, so we should be good for more than three years on this filter before we even consider replacing it. Great Grandpa Ted has been using one in their house in Georgia for years and still hasn’t felt the need to replace it, and he feels that the filter will outlast the 15,000 gallon life estimate.

The installation was straightforward once I had all the parts I needed. It took a while to get all the correct adapters because Astraea has 1/2 inch flexible hose plumbing with barb connections, and the WaterMarque uses 3/8 inch solid plastic hose with quick release connectors and compression fittings. It took me a few weeks to finally get all the right pieces and manufacture a bracket for the filter, but once I had all the parts the installation took half a day.

I installed the filters under the sink in the galley and plumbed them directly off the water pump, and then fed the filter output in to the accumulator. I chose to install the filter here to ensure even pressure and so all the pressure water would be filtered, even in the head for brushing our teeth.

The prefilter is the blue topped one in the foreground, with the WaterMarque filter behind it

New 1/2 inch hose coming off the potable water pump

New plumbing off the accumulator

Comparing the old yellow hose with the new clear hose

The other water project was stopping leaks coming in to our cabin. There were some poorly filled holes through the over our bed that dripped when it rained. On October 29 drilled the holes out and then filled them with some West System Epoxy. Right as I was finishing up Natalie got a call on her cellphone. WindWatcher hit a rock by the pump out dock and lost steering and they were anchored out in Sweetwater Channel.

Holes drilled out in the vent

Holes filled in the vent

Holes drilled in the overhead

The holes are filled in the overhead. To keep the epoxy from coming out I put masking tape over the holes and they filled flush

Natalie and I got Astraea underway and went out to tow them it. Chuck wanted to get their boat back in their slip so we tied the bows together with a few lines and another fellow came out with a dinghy to help us turn. Windwatcher hauled their anchor up and we maneuvered together to their slip in the marina.

WindWatcher anchored in Sweetwater Channel after they lost their steering

There was a good California sunset as we figured out how to make the tow back to Pier 32

Sully’s happy playing with his tablet in his chair connected to the table

Hi! We’re Nate, Natalie and Sully and here’s our plan:

Our mantra is "Invest in experiences, not things." Our goal is to travel and experience everything life has to offer before we get too old. To meet that goal, we bought a boat and lived aboard while outfitting her for coastal cruising. We 'cut the dock lines' in November 2014 and now we are heading south along the coast from San Diego to Mexico! This blog is to help us remember our trip and so our friends and family can follow along on our journey.